March232016

Learn to create electronic music on your phone!! Use low cost and free software to bring out your inner DJ. Thomas will demonstrate how to use the software and show you how to make your music yourself. Bring your iPhone, iPad, Android phone, or Android tablet and a good pair of headphones. Software links will […]

March182016

Flask is a popular Python package for developing web applications. Flask is considered a “micro” framework with a simple core and numerous extensions for database integration, form validation, authentication and more. During the class Bruce will demonstrate a simple website using Flask in a Python virtual environment. Topics will include the model-view-controller (MVC) paradigm, Jinja2 […]

February272016

Here is everything you need to know for the 2016 OMG Fir Lumber Rally!

Date: Tuesday, March 29th, 2016

Time: Check-in starts at 7:00p (doors open by 5:30p for testing, tuning, and final preparations)

Who: Open to all OMG members and their guests (family, friends, coworkers).

Mailing-list lurkers are welcome, too!

Cost: $5 per registrant (up to 3 cars per registrant)

Where: 8410 K Street, Suite #5, Omaha, NE

There will be (2) classes of entry – Gravity and Gravity+. _ALL_ entries MUST adhere to the following:

– Your vehicle MUST fit inside a “Go/NoGo” box – meaning it can be no longer than 7″ and no wider than 2-3/4″. Also, because of some track improvements being made, it can be no higher than 10″. For you scientific types, that’s 7.000″ long, 2.750″ wide, and 10.000″ high.

– Your vehicle must roll down the track, so it needs to have at least 1-3/4″ clear width between the wheels, and at least 1/4″ clearance on the underside.

– Your vehicle must weigh no more than 6.00 ounces – note that this is (1) ounce heavier than standard Boy Scout rules, so load ’em up!

– And that’s it! You don’t _have_ to use the BSA-approved kits (although they are only $4 at places like Hobby Lobby), and you don’t even have to use wood.

Additional Rules for Gravity+ Entries:

– Your method of power must be reasonably safe when around other participants, unless you provide lead radiation suits to all participants

– The mass of your vehicle must be the same at the end of the race as it is at the beginning of the race. Exactly the same. Not kinda the same, or sorta the same.

– With one exception – if you can successfully produce a 6-ounce live steam-powered entry, consideration will be given if your ending mass is not the same.

– Your method of power cannot bring harm or damage to the judges, other entries, participants, or the track itself.

– You may want to consider some sort of nose/forward-mounted pressure switch to keep your vehicle “off” until the gate drops. We would hate for your car to use up all it’s power sitting in the starting gate because of some sort of delay that might possibly happen.

– In order to earn points for your entry, it must cross the finish line ON THE TRACK. Just sayin’….

General Racing and Scoring Stuff:

– Participation is open to all ages. Junior participants in each class will be ranked as a group, as well as being ranked with the class in general (we will identify juniors at registration)

– All cars must be registered before the start of the event. At this time, they will be checked to ensure they meet the specifications in the rules.

– Every vehicle will run at least twice (once on each lane), with the best score kept.

– To celebrate and promote the Maker spirit, there will be time bonuses for Creativity, Workmanship, and Whimsy. These bonuses will be voted on by the participants, with the top 2 vote-getters in each category receiving a time bonus deducted from their fastest time.

– To further promote the Maker spirit, there will be a time penalty for the Least Effort. This will also be voted on by the participants, with the vehicle deemed to have the least amount of effort put forth earning a time penalty added to its fastest time.

– Time bonuses and penalties will be determined prior to race day, and will be announced then. But, trust us, they will be worth their while.

Some Other Stuff:

– If you have a concern about the $5 entry fee, please see Eric or Dave K. We want as many people to participate, without barriers to entry

– Since so many folks participated in the first event, there are still excess of supplies like graphite, tuning mandrels, lead weights, etc. If you need something, just ask!

– The track will be setup at least a week prior to the race, for practice and tuning

– We will probably have at least one “Fir Lumber” Open Shop night prior to the race, so you can feel free to drop in and work on your car with everyone else.

February172016

February112016

Learn to open locks without the key. A fun hobby and intellectual exercise. Our trainer can have you opening simple locks by the end of class. Tools will be supplied during the class but many people wish to purchase their own tools to train with. Suggested tools are either the TOOOL Tremendous Twelve Toolkit available […]

February092016

i3 member Ashley hosted two classes to introduce the new (to i3) Letterpress. The press is a Line-O-Scribe Show Card Writer. The press was built sometime between 1920 and 1940 in Adrian MI. The class demonstrated basic letterpress techniques and printing. The students picked a Valentine’s Day theme pattern to print. Then the pattern was […]

September112015

Hackito Ergo Sum 2015 is being setup one more time! Created by /tmp/lab and for hacking & security passionate researchers, HES 2015 will be the 6th edition of this conference. HES 2015 will take place at Cite des sciences et de l’Industrie (Paris – FR) – October 29th & 30th 2015.

August062015

Collecting things is a strange hobby. If you’re not into that, it’s a bit odd to see any individual focusing a good part of his life on a specific type of objects. Yet it is a very rational activity, with the qualifying, categorizing, ordering, and generally everything related to typology.

On the other hand, collecting links is a very common thing. I guess everyone gathers some in their Favorites. Some go through the same process : order, classify, refine, qualify. Sharing links is trivial these days. Yet not all websites offer the structural capacity to summarize with lists.

And then, there’s what’s leading the web these days, curation. After the community manager, the curator. The Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Curators, and Why They’ll Leave You Shocked, this kind of click baiting is the surface of this new dimension of our culture.

Well, welcome to a strange domain, where people collect links about technologies, organize, curate and publish them.

It all started with Awesome Malware Analysis. Quite the resource, for who discovers this field of activity. Lots of projects, with git collective power on github community.

The project cited the Awesome PHP and Awesome Python. And there you go, massive lists of libraries, frameworks, probably more than you’ll need.